Professional Chewing gum industry meeting point

More on this thread that has already a few posts. I read the news to day that the product will be launched in the US next year, 2018. This is a move that shows how serious the company is about this product. As far as I know it is available now only in the Italian market.

What makes them special is their mission, which is summarized in the company’s motto: “Products for good!”. Project 7 was founded in 2008 in the US and it is trying to make a difference in the world since then. They support 7 needs (health, environment, housing, hunger, thirst, education and peace) and the purchases of their products go directly to support one of them, by co-operating with different NGO and associations. More in particular, each purchase provides funds to projects evolving planting trees, provide shelter for those affected by natural disasters, provide meals, bring drinking water to those in need, deliver anti-malaria medications, give education to children in developing nations and support anti-bullying programs in US schools.

The company has grown amazingly since 2008 and now they are present in many shops and department stores. Some of their retail partners are: American Airlines, Walgreens, Safeway, Sixflags,.. They have appeared in the news and articles extensively as well.

The offer contains gum and mints but here we are interested about their gum, which comes in six appealing flavors: Birthday cake, coconut lime, fresh & breezy, front porch lemonade, mint julep and peppermint vanilla. It has been awarded the “Most Innovative New Product” at the 2014 “Sweets & Snacks Expo” in Chicago.

Today I want to talk about a functional gum. You know I have special interest on all these gums that provide some added benefits, so I am eager to taste and to talk about them.

Vitamingum® , from the USA, comes in two different versions:

– VITAMINGUM Fresh. This product is packed in blisters with 12 coated pillows each. It comes in three flavors (cinnamon, spearmint and peppermint) and contains 12 vitamins (!). They make up to 10% of the Recommended Daily Value (RDV) per serving. The vitamins are A, C, D, E and a range of Bs, plus folic acid and BiotinThe taste has good lasting and the chew is nice.

-VITAMINGUM Sport. This one comes in hollow balls packed in flow pack (each pack contains 4 balls) or in pouches containing 18 balls. There are three different flavors (grape, raspberry and bubble gum). The chew is surprisingly soft for a hollow ball and the cud volume is really big. It contains 25% of the RDV of the same vitamins as Vitamingum, so it is the “stronger version” of the former. In theory, by chewing only 4 of these balls per day, we can get the level of vitamins that is recommended.

Both products use Sucralose and Neotame as sweeteners and, in fact, use the claim of being “Aspartame free”.

It has been in the market for some time already, so it not really a new launching, but it is, anyway, a good example of how to make good functional products.

The product is based on a patent and sold by the company Vitaball, Inc. from Kentucky, and you can learn more in their website: www.chewvitamingum.com

It comes originally in cinnamon flavor but it seems that they are expanding the range to licorice and ginger.

We can find more and more of these products that claim organic/natural/bio/… which is a clear trend in our society. They still take a very tiny share of the market due to different reasons: Sometimes quality, sometimes limited marketing (and financial) power in front of the big guys, sometimes the consumer is not aware (or is not ready to pay more, or finds it difficult to find, …). It will be interesting to see the evolution of such brands in the near future.

The swiss company Chocolat Frey (I posted about it in the past) has recently acquired Sweetworks. I also posted about this American company which owns well-known brands such as Oak Leaf (located in Canada) and Niagara Chocolates.

The companies have chocolate production and this acquisition will be a direct way for the Swiss to enter the US market. However here we focus on gum, and Chocolat Frey is specialist in sugar free gum production (with own brands and for private label), while Oak Leaf is strong in gum balls (sugared). They are then in strong contrast with each other. It will be interesting to see how this synergy evolves in the future. Will Chocolat Frey coated pellets enter the US market in a stronger way and compete with the giants Wrigley and Mondelez? Are we going to see more sugar free gum balls? …

I received an article informing about a new chewing gum in the US. This time, the novelty that is announced is the active ingredient: Marijuana. According to the article it will be marketed Over-The-Counter, claiming health benefits.
What is more arguable is the declaration that this will be “the first cannabinoid based chewing gum to hit the market”… I have samples, bought in Amsterdam about 10 years ago that claim to contain marihuana as well. Of course, I have not analyzed to confirm if the claim is true, but in this case this “new” US product will not be the first one to be launched.

In any case, this development falls in the category of “functional gum”, added-value product, which tries to offer added benefits to the consumer.We find many launchings in this direction every year, which is a clear confirmation of this market trend.

Some days ago I was mentioning an interesting product from Wrigley in Australia. Today it is Cadbury’s turn, and they have a new product in the US named “ID“. This gum, targeted to teenagers has two main characteristics: The first is a printed surface with different designs (there are some products in the market with this feature but none of them has been launched recently). The second interesting characteristic is a packaging with a magnet in the sleeve so it can be properly closed.